Dia duit! My name is Michaiah Johnson (she/her) and I am absolutely thrilled to be just days away from embarking to Dublin! I am a rising junior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in English Writing on the fiction track with minors in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and English Literature. Outside of my studies, I am heavily involved on campus. I serve as the co-Editor-in-Chief for Pitt’s multidisciplinary literature and arts journal Forbes & Fifth along with being the social chair for Pitt’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society. I am also a member of Pitt’s chapter of Days for Girls and the Women of Color Collective. In my free time I can be found reading or writing, crocheting while watching a good show and movie, dancing around while listening to music, or spending time with friends and family. Post graduation, I hope to begin a career working in publishing while also pursuing my dream and goal of becoming a published author. 

In pursuit of this professional career, I was thrilled to learn about Pitt’s International Internship Program. I have always wanted to study abroad and I knew I wanted to get an internship for this summer. What better way to achieve both of those goals than to apply for a program where I could spend 8 weeks abroad and get a guaranteed internship? This is a great opportunity for me to grow, personally and professionally, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I further chose Dublin as my destination for several reasons. I didn’t want there to be a huge language barrier, so Ireland being a primarily English speaking country is a big pro. I’ve also read and watched a lot about the experiences of Black women like me traveling abroad and Ireland has often come up as a country that Black women have felt safe and respected in. Also, Ireland as a whole and Dublin specifically is known as a literary culture hub with famous authors hailing from there like Oscar Wilde and James Joyce. All of these aspects guided me to my decision to pursue this program.

Through the process of getting accepted into the program, getting scholarships, and getting placed for my internship, I have only grown more and more excited! I am so excited to see what this summer holds for me. This excitement has grown even further since receiving my official internship placement last week. I will be interning for Gay Community News (GCN), a non-profit magazine written for and about the queer community in Ireland. I am thrilled with this placement as it will give me great professional experience when it comes to writing and publishing. Working for a magazine will help me develop my writing skills in a professional and journalistic sense, along with exercising my skills in writing with a short-term deadline. I will also get to develop skills in website production and social media, along with getting to work with a team. And at its basics, I am gaining a new experience by working full time, preparing me for my future. I greatly feel that I will gain a whole host of skills from this internship.

I also feel that even outside of the internship experience itself, I will grow and learn a lot. While I have gained a lot of independence and learned how to be away from my parents while at university, this program will further enrich those experiences since I will be in a whole other country thousands of miles away. In conjunction with this independence, I will learn a lot from getting to immerse myself in another country and culture. There is only so much I can learn from the internet or from Derry Girls, although it is a magnificent show. Getting to truly be in Ireland, working and living, will teach me so much more about Irish culture that anything else ever could. I am so excited to explore the castles, museums, colleges, libraries, and other sites. I am looking forward to seeing places like the Cliffs of Moher, the Book of Kells, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I am so excited to try foods like boxty, colcannon, and a traditional Irish breakfast. I’m anticipating getting to explore Dublin and other cities in Ireland like Cork, Galway, and Derry! I can’t wait to hear traditional Irish music on the streets or in the pub. While I may be 4% Irish, there is so much for me to learn and explore about Irish culture and I am bursting with excitement to experience it all. 

This summer is going to be magical. I can feel it and I know it. It is going to be a summer of tremendous growth and transformation on the beautiful Emerald Isle and I can’t wait to see what’s to come!